One dead, 60 hurt as tourist train, truck collide in W. Virginia

October 11, 2013|Reuters

By Luke Swiderski

Oct 11 (Reuters) - One man was killed and more than 60people were injured when a logging truck collided with a touristtrain on Friday in the remote Allegheny Mountains of WestVirginia, the governor's office said.

The diesel train carrying at least 60 passengers, was about50 minutes into its crawl through dense spruce forests in thehigh country wilderness when the collision occurred at 1:30 p.m.near Cheat Bridge, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, spokeswoman forGovernor Earl Ray Tomblin.

The crash at the border of Randolph and Pocahontas counties,resulted in two of the train cars overturning, killing the man,believed to be the driver of the truck, she said.

"Two of the cars actually had flipped," Goodwin said. It wasnot immediately known how many cars the engine was pulling.

Ten ambulances and one school bus were used to transport 67people to Davis Memorial Hospital in Elkins, West Virginia, saida hospital spokeswoman.

Five of the injured on board the train, the Cheat MountainSalamander, were in serious condition, said Larry Messina,spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairsand Public Safety.

Signal lights at the train crossing were working properlyand there were no skid marks on the roadway, said a person closeto the investigation, who declined to be identified.

The Salamander, one of several tourist trains operated byDurbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, travels through "some ofthe wildest mountain wilderness you will ever experience,"according to the railroad website.

"Even by West Virginia standards, this is a very remotearea," Messina said.